Tenzin Namgyal Tethong and Tsewang Rigzin, President TYC with delegates at the 12th Annual meeting of Tibetan Youth Congress chapters in North America. (Photo/TYC)

DHARAMSHALA, June 5: The 12th Annual meeting of Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) chapters in North America was held on June 30 to July 1, in Seattle, Washington.

Representatives from seven chapters attended the two day meeting which included New York/New Jersey, Portland/Vancouver, San Francisco, Wisconsin, Washington DC, Minnesota and Seattle.

Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, one of the founders of TYC and former Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile was the special guest. In his address, Namgyal Tethong shared his experiences during the beginning days of TYC and how the organisation gradually came into prominence. He stressed on the fact that besides the goal to regain Tibet’s Independence, TYC has excelled in raising awareness about democracy; strengthening unity and providing great social service to the community. He urged the delegates to sustain and further strengthen these important goals of TYC.

The two-day meeting was moderated by Tsewang Rigzin, President of TYC. In his inaugural address, he stressed on the need for Tibetans worldwide to organise major consistent campaigns to highlight the ongoing wave of self-immolations inside Tibet and fulfill the aspirations of the Tibetan who have sacrificed their lives for Tibet's independence.

The agendas for the two-day meeting included reviewing of last year’s resolutions for any pending resolutions; strengthening the struggle for Tibet’s independence; showing solidarity in deeds with the self-immolators inside Tibet; securing release of Tibetan political prisoners, and strengthening the organisation of TYC.

After intense deliberations, the meeting passed resolutions, including funding of the Rangzen Conference next year organized by TYC and lobbying United Nations and world leaders for immediate intervention to stop the undeclared martial law situation in Chinese occupied Tibet.